by Jane Lambert

Ann Gray Shares Her Acoustic Pop Song “Grace”

Ann Gray is the talented young star who’s growing brighter by the day. She just released her latest acoustic pop single “Grace,” inspired by a previous song “Ophelia,” from her side project with her cousin called Times New Roman. “with her cousin called. “Ophelia” is about two friends leaving each other for college and “Grace” is written in Ophelia’s perspective toward her friend Grace.

“Although I myself have only just started looking at colleges and thinking about that daunting phase in my life, I had also just been directly introduced to that peculiar, bittersweet feeling as I had recently become the only kid in the house after my last sister left for college,” shares Ann Gray. “Ultimately, the line ‘growing up happens when you least expect it to’ sort of began to steer the concept of the piece. I was inspired to write it after my older sister, whom I often fought with and despised for the first couple years of my life, said that she loved me with red, crying eyes as she left. And of course, almost as if I was just realizing the truth of these words at that very moment, I said it back.”

“Grace” embraces new beginnings and reminisces about growing up. It’s sweet, beautiful, and delicate. Her voice is strong and packs a punch, something you would never expect from someone so young. She carries an Olivia Rodrigo meets Ingrid Michaelson in her voice with a Taylor Swift style in her songwriting.

Listen here:

Connect with Ann Gray via:
Website I Instagram I Spotify

08.29.22

by Jane Lambert

Kris “Halo” Pierce Shares his Chill and Downtempo Single “AndOr”

Based in New York, Kris “Halo” Pierce is a multi-award winning artist, also music producer, who has had his music played at MTV, Viacom Media Networks, Sony Creative and VH1, among other channels.

“AndOr” is a super laid back and chilled electro track, with synths and distant other-worldly beats:

“This track is pretty much about Cognitive Dissonance. It´s a laid back beat with the familiar electric piano stabs and synco-bass from the Chill Out pages.”

With influences like Massive Attack, his music truly stands out not only in the electronic genre, but also wider afield with trip hop, EDM and funk. It´s a pretty cool track that is both moody as well as soulful and danceable, and draws from ambient, goth and industrial music genres too.

Listen here:

Today, Kris “Halo” Pierce has announced his second solo album release called Artificial Breed, a darker and more eclectic collection of tracks that features remixes by Craig Joseph Huxtable, Seven Factor and more. The album´s lead single called “Midnight Dive” has been played more than 2 million times, including throughout major retail stores in the United States.

Kris´s musical aesthetics explore dreams, abstract other worlds and non linear lyrics:

“A lot of the times, if it sounds like it is a love song, it´s probably actually about music itself. I don´t like to write about people or situations I feel negative about.”

Kris is not only an acclaimed music artist, but also a sound engineer, audio technician for off-Broadway shows, as well as a studio whizz as he runs his own production company Halo Askew Entertainment.

Stream Kris “Halo” Pierce music on YouTube, Spotify and Soundcloud.

08.24.22

by Jane Lambert

Lenni Revel’s Intricate New Single “Annabelle” Shares a Meaningful Message

Lenni Revel lived what felt to her like a pop star fantasy; 5 Grammy submissions, her image on billboards in Times Square, A&R agents courting her. But she traded it all in to kick her prescription Adderall addiction cold turkey in a shed outside of her parent’s house. Lenni was trying to sober up from the drugs and hype of the life she was living, a life she admits she had created. The momentum of years of the lifestyle did not just change with her mind overnight. When she might have been wiser to ease herself off of drugs she chose to go at sobriety the way she’d gone after everything else—all in or nothing. The ambition for overnight clarity and sobriety backfired and she was eventually admitted to a psych ward and put on a mandatory suicide watch. Once out of the facility, she set upon continuing her path to a more genuine life. A week after her 25th birthday she thought she would slowly re-enter the world taking a day gig job by responding to a Craigslist ad to help someone pack up their garage in preparation to move. That someone was Robert Revel. He would become her husband and the musical muse to get her back into the music business with a clear soul and an indefatigable passion.

“I wish I could tell you that upon seeing Robert for the first time, the heavens opened, and our romantic story began right away. It just didn’t happen like that. I remember feeling strangely at ease on first impression with him,” Lenni says. “He effortlessly saw into who I was as a person. There may not have been the cliché ‘sparks’ between us but there was a deeper fire at the core that initially I think we both sensed. I knew I was going to marry him.”

Lenni’s new single “Annabelle” was written by Robert when he was single and dating. He shared with Lenni that he remembered sensing that the women he was seeing weren’t experiencing a certain quality of freedom that allowed them to really shine, that many were either acting out social norms, or engaged heavily in reacting against them. Robert wrote “Annabelle” about those male-imposed values pushing women to stay in a woman’s “place” and made them high-value targets with Lenni’s powerful vocals breaking the glass ceiling of every outdated feminine archetype. Lenni’s voice provides a moving and powerful sense of taking back your power and sense of self. The song’s crescendo ends in a guttural gasp from Lenni, catching her breath from underneath what feels like a millennia of suppression.

And Lenni’s voice is unique. There is such an emotional depth and sincerity, that it is almost peerless. She sings with both purpose and passion. Comparisons to Fiona Apple, Stevie Nicks or Miley Cyrus only fall short of actually hearing the raw and velvety smooth sounds in her vocal arsenal. Musically speaking, “Annabelle” has an outlaw Americana/Alt Rock sound with Joni Mitchell storytelling—a real breath of fresh air.

“When I started singing ‘Annabelle,’ I felt the themes of the song in my own life, of course,” shares Lenni. “In the final rise of the song, the roles that have been assigned to women for millennia are called out by name and by the end my voice bleeds into this guttural scream. When performing it, I feel an ancestry of pain.”

We couldn’t be more excited to have this incredible artist’s voice and message breaking on the horizon, and can’t wait for more to come.

Listen here:

Watch here:

Connect with Lenni Revel

Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube / TikTok / Spotify / Soundcloud

08.17.22

by Jane Lambert

Kremidas’ ‘Hold On Tight’ is an Acoustic Dreamscape

Kremidas, the multi-instrumentalist songwriter, has just released his second album, Hold On Tight, a cool and chill acoustic album inspired by his brave and courageous journey through cancer. It’s optimistic tone is what emphasizes the instrumental stories of love, hope, and pain.

“I am past cancer, thankfully, but it made me pause and think, ‘where do I go from here? what happens when I’m gone?,’” Jim shares. “When I looked back, I felt this real appreciation for life. There is a lot of bad, of course, but really a lot of good—life is so beautiful. I wanted this album to encompass the full span of the wonderful emotions of life. We are here for a period of time—it’s over before we know it—and I wanted to share in the beauty of it all.”

Hold On Tight is a showcasing of Kremidas’ instrumental prowess. The album features his skills with the strings, except those that require a bow, like the banjo, acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, dobro, dulcimer, and pedal steel. Each aspect brings a different mood and emotion to the forefront.

“Refections (No Regrets)” is faster paced and has a Johnny Cash feeling to it, like he’s purging his emotions, while “Clara” is lighter and more delicate. He experiments with light synth sounds in “Over Half Way,” invoking a sense of mystery, like you don’t know what’s coming next. “You’re Not Losing Me” is the statement song of the album as it’s the only one with lyrics. He sings “You’re not losing me/I’m not losing you/ we’re just moving on/we’re just passing along.” The song is about moving on to new things and that being a good thing. “Between the Lines” is ambient yet carries a darker country sound. Jim says “This song expresses those times when you feel down—it’s meant to be sad, but also comforting.” The title song, “Hold On Tight” is interesting because it harkens back to “Refections” with the outlaw country vibe. The verses build tension that’s then released in the chorus. It’s emotive and moving.

Listen here:

Connect with Kremidas

Bandcamp / Spotify / Soundcloud

08.09.22

by Jane Lambert

Erika Olson’s “Mamma Ain’t Got No Time” Shines a Light on Her Unique Life of Motherhood

Singer/songwriter Erika Olson has a new single out called “Mamma Ain´t Got No Time,” a folksy pop ballad on the life of a mother. It is a rich and intricate song with descriptive and emotional lyrics and an overall light energy. This song is one you will want to play again and again, with it´s unique folk and country vibes:

“‘Momma Ain’t Got No Time’ was born from a conversation with a dear friend. I’d just started songwriting and was struggling with not having any time to do it. My friend so wisely suggested that I write that song. And so, it began. This was not the first song that I wrote, but it was the first song I wrote in my own voice. I felt like this song revealed who I was and how I saw the world. Yes, life is hard, motherhood is a huge transition, and also it is magical, transformative, and I don’t regret it for a second.

Erika is an American expat currently living in East Sussex, England. She grew up living all over the United States, from New Mexico to Utah, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia and North Carolina.

Having left a busy law career on becoming a mother, and realising she needed to explore her musical and creative talents more, Erika dug deep and started taking guitar lessons. It was then that she could take some reflection time away from raising her three young children, and revel in her creative passions.

“Mamma Ain´t Got No Time” is all about motherhood and its sea of chaos, the ups and the downs. Rooted in the everyday things, Olson is sure to be a witness to her own journey of becoming a mother as well as use her music as a vessel to wake us up to our own precious and unique lives.

Just about to self-release her debut album, Erika has learned that change is her constant and her power.

Listen here:

Stay current with Erika Olson on her website and social media channels Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Stream music on YouTube and Soundcloud

08.03.22

by Jane Lambert

Vince Vanguard’s “Just So You Know” Paints a Picture of Recovery

“I talked about recording for years, but couldn’t make it happen until I made some important changes. I guess I hid in that studio,” Vince admits. For years, Vince Vanguard owned and ran a recording studio and ran his own production company. He had always wanted to create and release his own music, but couldn’t quite take that step, so helped others release theirs. However, his overindulgent lifestyle was his downfall.

Today, he’s set to release his debut folk rock and americana album, Spirit Blues. “These songs were written and recorded for me. I wasn’t trying to be commercially successful, or catch a certain group’s attention. They’re all just my pain and existential rumination, and the need for their cathartic release.”

His latest release, “Just So You Know,” is a gripping country song inspired by his recovery from alcohol and is a eulogy to the relationship he had with it. He wrote it in the early days of his journey to getting help and reflects the power that alcohol had on him, singing “Just so you know/I’m letting you go/to find a better life on the other side.”

“Just So You Know” utilizes a pedal steel to give the signature twang sound in the song. His voice is very familiar, almost like Jackson Brown, and the country sound he presents is kind of like a Garth Brooks or a George Strait with a contemporary and hint of soft rock feeling.

Listen here: